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UAE space mission is pioneering

Programme needs international 
cooperation, says astronaut

The first Canadian to walk in space, Commander Chris Hadfield, who served as the commander of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2013, has welcomed the recently announced UAE space programme to send the first Arab spaceship to Mars in 2021.

“The creation of a new UAE Space Agency to supervise the Mars mission is going to put the country on a new scientific, technological and cultural path,” he told Khaleej Times.

Hadfield, who commanded the ISS during the second portion of his five-month stay in space last year, said the UAE’s efforts to establish a space programme is pioneering. “The country can become the new magnet for science and technology. It will become the reason for men and women with intellect, drive, inspiration and passion to come here and work towards this objective,” he noted.

After travelling more than 99.8 million kilometres while completing 2,336 orbits, Hadfield spent 146 days in space, 144 of which were aboard the station. Globally renowned for his inspirational talk shows, Hadfield feels that the UAE’s space programme is going to herald a new quest for development.

“There is a need to build technical and intellectual capabilities in the fields of aerospace and space exploration here. The UAE’s space programmes would need international cooperation that will eventually build its national capabilities.”

Inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame (2005) and commemorated on Royal Canadian Mint silver and gold coins for his spacewalk, Hadfield opines that there can be a synergy between Canada and the UAE in space exploration. Canada, which has had a space programme for several decades, is already contributing to the development of the ISS with the Mobile Servicing System.

“Our first satellite was launched in 1962, but we didn’t have a space agency till 1989. In the last 25 years, it has been immensely successful and has given us a vision.”

Emphasising the importance of having a national space programme, Hadfield said, “The probe will be a visible, undeniable reminder and symbol of what we can do together. The challenge of a nation to send a mission to Mars will help start the necessary education. It needs physicists, structural dynamists, engineers, communications experts and other allied support. The UAE space programme will ignite a new passion for knowledge in the country.”

sadiq@khaleejtimes.com